Staff report

With his Devils back in the Stanley Cup finals, retirement is the farthest thing from Martin Brodeur's mind. Age 40? No problem, he told reporters Tuesday ahead of the series opener.

"I know a lot of people say it's great to retire on top, but at the end of the day, when I'm going to say it's over, it's over, I'm not going to come back," Brodeur said. "I want to make sure I make the right decision. Right now I'm leaning toward coming back. We'll see."

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Considering Brodeur is 3-1 in the finals and looks rejuvenated, that's bad news for the Eastern Conference. How that plays out against the Kings in the finals will determine the best-of-7 free-for-all for the Stanley Cup.

Game 1 of the finals begins at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The Devils, and Brodeur, are riding high after dispatching two belligerents with whom they have a long history. They knocked out the Flyers in five games and the Rangers in six.

No wonder Brodeur sounds on top of the hockey world again.

"I'm really enjoying this," he said Tuesday. "Regardless of what happens in this series, I think we made a great step last year at the end of the year and through this year to have a really good team and a good coaching staff together and it’s fun. To me, it's all about having fun coming to the rink."

Tonight's Game 1 will be Brodeur's 200th playoff start. He had Cups from 1995, 2000 and 2003. The only finals flaw on his Hall of Fame resume was in 2001, when the Devils lost to Patrick Roy's Avalanche in seven games.

Roy had a record 247 playoff appearances. By contrast, Kings starter and playoff hero Jonathan Quick has played 27 playoff games.